Russian Revolution centenary
20 June 2017
Beginning in the capital Petrograd, the revolution quickly convulsed the vast Russian empire in struggles
20 June 2017
It’s a myth that the Bolsheviks were repressive dictators. Open debate was central to their revolutionary method
06 June 2017
Alexander Kerensky started out on the side of the revolution but betrayed workers’ and soldiers’ demands for an end to the war
30 May 2017
Working class sailors in the Baltic Fleet were the revolution’s powerhouse—and later the victims of its isolation and decline
23 May 2017
Most of the media and mainstream politicians don’t think much of ordinary people.
16 May 2017
War and hunger sparked the Russian Revolution in 1917, but will only such desperate conditions lead to a revolution?
02 May 2017
The British Library’s new Russian Revolution exhibition has some fantastic artefacts but a poor conclusion, writes Sarah Bates
02 May 2017
As the centenary of the Russian Revolution progresses, shelves in bookshops are beginning to groan under the weight of books about 1917.
25 April 2017
May Day 1917 saw massive celebrations in Russia—but tension was brewing against the provisional government
18 April 2017
Joseph Stalin wrote to his Bolshevik party comrade Lev Kamenev in 1912, “I kiss you on the nose, Eskimo-fashion. Dammit! I miss you something awful. I miss you like hell, I swear. I have no one, not a soul to have a proper talk with, damn you.”
11 April 2017
The internationalism of the Bolsheviks challenged the ideology of the war and posed a threat to the world’s capitalists
04 April 2017
A sharp argument within the Bolshevik party stopped it from supporting imperialist war—and helped push the revolution forward
04 April 2017
Workers flocked to join unions during the Russian Revolution—but as they grew bigger, so did their contradictions
21 March 2017
Our rulers caricature the Bolsheviks who led the Russian Revolution because they are afraid of a repeat
14 March 2017
Rapid capitalist development in Russian cities gave birth to a working class that dug the Tsar and capitalism’s grave
07 March 2017
A century ago this week in Russia, the February Revolution ended an ancient dictatorship and began the quest for a new society
28 February 2017
A mutiny by soldiers was key to forcing out the Tsar in Russia—and a mass revolt of ordinary people made their rebellion possible
14 February 2017
The Royal Academy’s revolutionary Russian art exhibition is impressive, but the working class is rarely seen as fully active within history
14 February 2017
Workers and soldiers spontaneously rose up against the Tsar many times—but it took organisation to carry this through to victory
14 February 2017
The 1917 Russian Revolution saw many gains for LGBT+ rights. These were inseparable from the fight for socialism